When Women Leaders Leave, the Losses Multiply

Tens of millions of women have left the workforce since the start of the pandemic, many permanently. This has lowered women’s participation in the global labor force to a crisis level, but the impact goes even deeper. Since women leaders have more engaged teams and drive better job performance, the collateral damage includes loss of engagement and productivity from every employee who now won’t be working for a woman. Research by Potential Project confirms this impact, documenting that on the crucial leadership qualities of wisdom and compassion, women leaders rank substantially higher than their male counterparts and this translates to business and financial results. To leverage these findings towards more beneficial outcomes for all their employees, organizations should promote principles and practices that: promote gender equity, develop compassionate leadership, and increase learning through intentional peer coaching and advisory circles for men and women.